The Revolution Will Be Televised: PCs, TVs and The Internet

The consumer electronics industry in general, and television in particular, are poised for dramatic changes. These changes go much further than the shift from standard definition to high definition video, the replacement of the CRT by flat screens, and the analog-to-digital broadcast transition which is taking place across the world and is scheduled for completion in the US this next year.

With digital content, there has been a blending of the intelligence made possible by computer processors with traditional content such as television programming. This blending extends the functionality of video and audio services beyond the simple record/edit/distribute/consume process which was the model for more than 70 years. The DVR is probably the best example to date – harnessing the power of the computer to deliver television experiences on the consumer’s schedule, instead of the networks’, with an ease of use and flexibility unmatched by the analog VCR.

This blending process will only accelerate as video and audio content complete the transition to digital on an end-to-end basis.

One of the most significant capabilities that was originally pioneered in the computer industry and that is developing significant consumer electronics applications is the Internet. In terms of bringing television, movies, and music to, and through, the PC, to consumers, the success is unqualified. For instance, just earlier this year Apple’s iTunes service passed Walmart as the largest retailer of music in the US. However, bringing Internet content and services directly to the television has proven more challenging with many more examples of failure than success to date.

One of the reasons for many of these failures is trying to put PC Internet experiences and technology directly on and into the television (think keyboards, mice, pointer based UIs, blue screens…) without a full consideration of their impact on the television experience.

Some new devices and services, such as Roku’s Netflix Player, deliver a significantly better experience. With this player, consumers use their PC to browse the Netflix Internet content library consisting of thousands of titles, selecting content to be added to their “instant” viewing list. Then, on the television, the consumers can select which content they want to watch from this list using the Roku player’s remove content and television-optimized UI. This model achieves the best of both worlds in many respects: it enables consumers to use the PC to browse a large content library with keyword searches and other “lean forward” interactions, and then lets them “lean back” and enjoy the content on the television.

Bringing Internet content and services to the television more generally and in a television-centric manner – much as Netflix/Roku have done in their specific niche – is both our collective challenge and opportunity. A broad range of PC platform technologies will be needed either inside or along side the TV in order to broadly support Internet content and services. However, as we develop these technologies, we must endeavor to preserve what is unique and special about the television experience – its simplicity and intuitiveness. This will require further technology development and capabilities beyond what the PC has to offer today.

I hope you will join me at IDF to continue the discussion on this exciting topic.